Instrumental Rationality and Moral Philosophy

Instrumental Rationality and Moral Philosophy

Author: B. Verbeek

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-03-09

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 9401599823

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Many academic authors incur debts in the production of their work, many of which are intellectual. I am no exception. One of my intellectual debts is to three remarkable books, which formed the starting point for my thinking about norms. The first of these books is well known among philosophers: David Lewis' Convention. In vintage Lewisian prose, the book gives a lucid and convincing conventionalist analysis of semantic norms. The second 1985 dissertation Wederkerige book is Govert den Hartogh's Verwachtingen (Mutual Expectations). Partly because it was written in Dutch - my native tongue -partly because of the occasionally impenetrable style, it never got the attention it deserves. In that book, Den Hartogh extends Lewis' analysis of semantic norms to moral norms. Den Hartogh introduced the notion of cooperative virtues that is the focus of much of this book. The third book is a book on economics, largely ignored by economists, which only lately has started to receive some recognition among philosophers: Robert Sugden's The Economics of Rights, Co operation and Welfare. Sugden's book explains the emergence and stability of norms in terms of social evolution. Though all three books develop a of norms, their arguments and constructions are conventionalist account very different. Lewis and Den Hartogh take the picture of rational man deliberating about his course of action very serious; Sugden rejects this picture as unrealistic and unnecessary.


Book Synopsis Instrumental Rationality and Moral Philosophy by : B. Verbeek

Download or read book Instrumental Rationality and Moral Philosophy written by B. Verbeek and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many academic authors incur debts in the production of their work, many of which are intellectual. I am no exception. One of my intellectual debts is to three remarkable books, which formed the starting point for my thinking about norms. The first of these books is well known among philosophers: David Lewis' Convention. In vintage Lewisian prose, the book gives a lucid and convincing conventionalist analysis of semantic norms. The second 1985 dissertation Wederkerige book is Govert den Hartogh's Verwachtingen (Mutual Expectations). Partly because it was written in Dutch - my native tongue -partly because of the occasionally impenetrable style, it never got the attention it deserves. In that book, Den Hartogh extends Lewis' analysis of semantic norms to moral norms. Den Hartogh introduced the notion of cooperative virtues that is the focus of much of this book. The third book is a book on economics, largely ignored by economists, which only lately has started to receive some recognition among philosophers: Robert Sugden's The Economics of Rights, Co operation and Welfare. Sugden's book explains the emergence and stability of norms in terms of social evolution. Though all three books develop a of norms, their arguments and constructions are conventionalist account very different. Lewis and Den Hartogh take the picture of rational man deliberating about his course of action very serious; Sugden rejects this picture as unrealistic and unnecessary.


Instrumental Rationality and Moral Philosophy

Instrumental Rationality and Moral Philosophy

Author: B. Verbeek

Publisher:

Published: 2014-09-01

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9789401599832

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Book Synopsis Instrumental Rationality and Moral Philosophy by : B. Verbeek

Download or read book Instrumental Rationality and Moral Philosophy written by B. Verbeek and published by . This book was released on 2014-09-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Instrumental Rationality

Instrumental Rationality

Author: John Brunero

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-04-29

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0191063940

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Rationality requires that we intend the means that we believe are necessary for achieving our ends. Instrumental Rationality explores the formulation and status of this requirement of means-ends coherence. In particular, it is concerned with understanding what means-ends coherence requires of us as believers and agents, and why. Means-ends coherence is a genuine requirement of rationality and cannot be explained away as a myth, confused with a disjunction of requirements to have, or not have, specific attitudes. Nor is means-ends coherence strongly normative, such that we always ought to be means-ends coherent. A promising strategy for assessing why this requirement should exist is to consider the constitutive aim of intention. Just as belief has a constitutive aim (truth) that can explain some of the theoretical requirements of consistency and coherence governing beliefs, intention has a constitutive aim (here called "controlled action") that can explain some of the requirements of consistency and coherence governing intentions. We can therefore better understand means-ends coherence by understanding the constitutive aims of both of the attitudes governed by the requirement, intention, and belief.


Book Synopsis Instrumental Rationality by : John Brunero

Download or read book Instrumental Rationality written by John Brunero and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-29 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rationality requires that we intend the means that we believe are necessary for achieving our ends. Instrumental Rationality explores the formulation and status of this requirement of means-ends coherence. In particular, it is concerned with understanding what means-ends coherence requires of us as believers and agents, and why. Means-ends coherence is a genuine requirement of rationality and cannot be explained away as a myth, confused with a disjunction of requirements to have, or not have, specific attitudes. Nor is means-ends coherence strongly normative, such that we always ought to be means-ends coherent. A promising strategy for assessing why this requirement should exist is to consider the constitutive aim of intention. Just as belief has a constitutive aim (truth) that can explain some of the theoretical requirements of consistency and coherence governing beliefs, intention has a constitutive aim (here called "controlled action") that can explain some of the requirements of consistency and coherence governing intentions. We can therefore better understand means-ends coherence by understanding the constitutive aims of both of the attitudes governed by the requirement, intention, and belief.


Rightness as Fairness

Rightness as Fairness

Author: Marcus Arvan

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-03-29

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1137541814

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Rightness as Fairness provides a uniquely fruitful method of 'principled fair negotiation' for resolving applied moral and political issues that requires merging principled debate with real-world negotiation.


Book Synopsis Rightness as Fairness by : Marcus Arvan

Download or read book Rightness as Fairness written by Marcus Arvan and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-03-29 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rightness as Fairness provides a uniquely fruitful method of 'principled fair negotiation' for resolving applied moral and political issues that requires merging principled debate with real-world negotiation.


Rational Powers in Action

Rational Powers in Action

Author: Sergio Tenenbaum

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-11-05

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0192592262

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Human actions unfold over time, in pursuit of ends that are not fully specified in advance. Rational Powers in Action locates these features of the human condition at the heart of a new theory of instrumental rationality. Where many theories of rational agency focus on instantaneous choices between sharply defined outcomes, treating the temporally extended and partially open-ended character of action as an afterthought, this book argues that the deep structure of instrumental rationality can only be understood if we see how it governs the pursuit of long-term, indeterminate ends. These are ends that cannot be realized through a single momentary action, and whose content leaves partly open what counts as realizing the end. Sergio Tenenbaum argues that we need to focus on temporal duration and the indeterminacy of ends in intentional action, even to explain the rational governance of relatively simple actions. Theories of moment-by-moment preference maximization, or indeed any understanding of instrumental rationality on the basis of momentary mental items, cannot capture the fundamental structure of our instrumentally rational capacities. Tenenbaum provides a new theory of instrumental rationality as rationality in action.


Book Synopsis Rational Powers in Action by : Sergio Tenenbaum

Download or read book Rational Powers in Action written by Sergio Tenenbaum and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-05 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human actions unfold over time, in pursuit of ends that are not fully specified in advance. Rational Powers in Action locates these features of the human condition at the heart of a new theory of instrumental rationality. Where many theories of rational agency focus on instantaneous choices between sharply defined outcomes, treating the temporally extended and partially open-ended character of action as an afterthought, this book argues that the deep structure of instrumental rationality can only be understood if we see how it governs the pursuit of long-term, indeterminate ends. These are ends that cannot be realized through a single momentary action, and whose content leaves partly open what counts as realizing the end. Sergio Tenenbaum argues that we need to focus on temporal duration and the indeterminacy of ends in intentional action, even to explain the rational governance of relatively simple actions. Theories of moment-by-moment preference maximization, or indeed any understanding of instrumental rationality on the basis of momentary mental items, cannot capture the fundamental structure of our instrumentally rational capacities. Tenenbaum provides a new theory of instrumental rationality as rationality in action.


The Moral Commonwealth

The Moral Commonwealth

Author: Philip Selznick

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 1994-09-09

Total Pages: 572

ISBN-13: 9780520089341

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Establishes the intellectual foundations of a new movement in American thought: communitarianism. Emerging in part as a response to the excesses of American individualism, communitarianism seeks to restore the balance between individual rights and social responsibilities.


Book Synopsis The Moral Commonwealth by : Philip Selznick

Download or read book The Moral Commonwealth written by Philip Selznick and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1994-09-09 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Establishes the intellectual foundations of a new movement in American thought: communitarianism. Emerging in part as a response to the excesses of American individualism, communitarianism seeks to restore the balance between individual rights and social responsibilities.


Rationality, Rules, and Structure

Rationality, Rules, and Structure

Author: Julian Nida-Rümelin

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-04-17

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 9401596166

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It is an obvious fact that human agency is constrained and structured by many kinds of rules: rules that are constitutive for communication, morality, persons, and society, and juridical rules. So the question is: what roles are played by social rules and the structural traits of human agency in rational decision making? What bearing does this have on the theory of practical rationality? These issues can only be discussed within an interdisciplinary setting, with researchers drawn from philosophy, decision theory and the economic and social sciences. The problem is of profound, fundamental concern to the social scientist and has attracted a great deal of intellectual effort. Contributors include distinguished researchers in their respective fields and the book thus presents state-of-the-art theory. It can also be used as a textbook in advanced philosophy, economics and social science classes.


Book Synopsis Rationality, Rules, and Structure by : Julian Nida-Rümelin

Download or read book Rationality, Rules, and Structure written by Julian Nida-Rümelin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is an obvious fact that human agency is constrained and structured by many kinds of rules: rules that are constitutive for communication, morality, persons, and society, and juridical rules. So the question is: what roles are played by social rules and the structural traits of human agency in rational decision making? What bearing does this have on the theory of practical rationality? These issues can only be discussed within an interdisciplinary setting, with researchers drawn from philosophy, decision theory and the economic and social sciences. The problem is of profound, fundamental concern to the social scientist and has attracted a great deal of intellectual effort. Contributors include distinguished researchers in their respective fields and the book thus presents state-of-the-art theory. It can also be used as a textbook in advanced philosophy, economics and social science classes.


Following the Rules

Following the Rules

Author: Joseph Heath

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2008-10-16

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0195370295

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For centuries, philosophers have been puzzled by the fact that people often respect moral obligations as a matter of principle, setting aside considerations of self-interest. This text shows how rule-following can be understood as an essential element of rational action.


Book Synopsis Following the Rules by : Joseph Heath

Download or read book Following the Rules written by Joseph Heath and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2008-10-16 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For centuries, philosophers have been puzzled by the fact that people often respect moral obligations as a matter of principle, setting aside considerations of self-interest. This text shows how rule-following can be understood as an essential element of rational action.


Communicative Action and Rational Choice

Communicative Action and Rational Choice

Author: Joseph Heath

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2003-01-24

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780262263030

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In this book Joseph Heath brings Jürgen Habermas's theory of communicative action into dialogue with the most sophisticated articulation of the instrumental conception of practical rationality-modern rational choice theory. Heath begins with an overview of Habermas's action theory and his critique of decision and game theory. He then offers an alternative to Habermas's use of speech act theory to explain social order and outlines a multidimensional theory of rational action that includes norm-governed action as a specific type. In the second part of the book Heath discusses the more philosophical dimension of Habermas's conception of practical rationality. He criticizes Habermas's attempt to introduce a universalization principle governing moral discourse, as well as his criteria for distinguishing between moral and ethical problems. Heath offers an alternative account of the level of convergence exhibited by moral argumentation, drawing on game-theoretic models to specify the burden of proof that the theory of communicative action and discourse must assume.


Book Synopsis Communicative Action and Rational Choice by : Joseph Heath

Download or read book Communicative Action and Rational Choice written by Joseph Heath and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2003-01-24 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book Joseph Heath brings Jürgen Habermas's theory of communicative action into dialogue with the most sophisticated articulation of the instrumental conception of practical rationality-modern rational choice theory. Heath begins with an overview of Habermas's action theory and his critique of decision and game theory. He then offers an alternative to Habermas's use of speech act theory to explain social order and outlines a multidimensional theory of rational action that includes norm-governed action as a specific type. In the second part of the book Heath discusses the more philosophical dimension of Habermas's conception of practical rationality. He criticizes Habermas's attempt to introduce a universalization principle governing moral discourse, as well as his criteria for distinguishing between moral and ethical problems. Heath offers an alternative account of the level of convergence exhibited by moral argumentation, drawing on game-theoretic models to specify the burden of proof that the theory of communicative action and discourse must assume.


The Importance of Being Rational

The Importance of Being Rational

Author: Errol Lord

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-05-30

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 0192546759

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The Importance of Being Rational systematically defends a novel reasons-based account of rationality. The book's central thesis is that what it is for one to be rational is to correctly respond to the normative reasons one possesses. Errol Lord defends novel views about what it is to possess reasons and what it is to correctly respond to reasons. He shows that these views not only help to support the book's main thesis, they also help to resolve several important problems that are independent of rationality. The account of possession provides novel contributions to debates about what determines what we ought to do, and the account of correctly responding to reasons provides novel contributions to debates about causal theories of reacting for reasons. After defending views about possession and correctly responding, Lord shows that the account of rationality can solve two difficult problems about rationality. The first is the New Evil Demon problem. The book argues that the account has the resources to show that internal duplicates necessarily have the same rational status. The second problem concerns the deontic significance of rationality. Recently it has been doubted whether we ought to be rational. The ultimate conclusion of the book is that the requirements of rationality are the requirements that we ultimately ought to comply with. If this is right, then rationality is of fundamental importance to our deliberative lives.


Book Synopsis The Importance of Being Rational by : Errol Lord

Download or read book The Importance of Being Rational written by Errol Lord and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-30 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Importance of Being Rational systematically defends a novel reasons-based account of rationality. The book's central thesis is that what it is for one to be rational is to correctly respond to the normative reasons one possesses. Errol Lord defends novel views about what it is to possess reasons and what it is to correctly respond to reasons. He shows that these views not only help to support the book's main thesis, they also help to resolve several important problems that are independent of rationality. The account of possession provides novel contributions to debates about what determines what we ought to do, and the account of correctly responding to reasons provides novel contributions to debates about causal theories of reacting for reasons. After defending views about possession and correctly responding, Lord shows that the account of rationality can solve two difficult problems about rationality. The first is the New Evil Demon problem. The book argues that the account has the resources to show that internal duplicates necessarily have the same rational status. The second problem concerns the deontic significance of rationality. Recently it has been doubted whether we ought to be rational. The ultimate conclusion of the book is that the requirements of rationality are the requirements that we ultimately ought to comply with. If this is right, then rationality is of fundamental importance to our deliberative lives.